#Scales Carmine

[bruciemilf]

Gonna commit the unspeakable (indulge in A/B/O)

[jenfoundabug]

I discovered these interesting scale insects on my prickly pear cactus (opuntia).

It turns out these are cochineal insects (Dactylopius coccus), the source of the natural dye carmine. You can see some of this pigment in the third picture (purple splotch) where the bugs may have been injured. Carmine, aka crimson lake, is frequently found in cosmetics (blush and lipstick) and food (ice cream, yogurt, soft drinks, sausage, and candy). Farming these bugs began as early as 700 BC in South America, and carmine has been used by many indigenous cultures to dye textiles and create artwork.

While mature females are about 25% carminic acid, it still takes tens of thousands of them to produce one pound of pigment.

If I get enough of these, I may try making some dye myself XD

[scryingworkshop]

[shadowskulls-blog]

Yk given how tall carmilla carmine is why do I imagine a 4’10 reader being either bratty or just annoying carmilla *they just have gremlin energy* or her being protective of them and don’t want them to get hurt and the only way she can handle r is by putting on a high place and can’t get down *the top of the fridge/kitchen cabinet is offically r’s spot*

😂😂😂 and the funniest thing is I am that height and I can see her just having a “I’m done” expression and just put someone there and walk away winning the argument

Sup, I'm back and now have motivation again, and I was scrolling through my inbox and found this, and I wanted to answer it, but instead of doing a story, I'm gonna give headcanons instead. I've never written headcannons, but I read them a lot, so yeah.

Carmilla Carmine x Short Reader (headcannons)

(Sfw) and (Nsfw) headcannons

One thing is for sure the reader has gremlin energy. Being this small and rather full of energy person. Carmilla loves it. It brings her spirits up every time you come by and make jokes

I don't know her cannon height, but I'd imagine it's in the 8 foot scale. Because tall women are very sexy. So she'd definitely pick you up from time to time. Not a whole lot, but sometimes.

Half the times when she does is to either put you on the fridge or a high place to calm you down or when you're being annoying.

Annoying in the sense where you couldn't stop making sex jokes, so she put you up there so she didn't get too distracted from her work or you two were arguing.

I can only imagine the reader going, "wha- Cammy! What you doing?! Carmilla! You can't leave me up here! Carmilla, please! Come back!" While trying not to fall off the fridge so you didn't break something.

And the entire time Carmilla just has the most "I'm done" expression while placing you up there and walking out of the room

And I can only imagine that 40% of time, Carmilla forgets she put you up there and Clara or Odette walk in to grab a drink and you're just up there, having the most scared or tired look on your face and going

"Please, get your mom so she can get me down, and so we can go to bed"

Being very small. Carmilla would be very protective. Making sure you were close by her at all times and also making sure you were with her. While also making sure to be gentle with you. But she also gives you angelic guns to protect yourself.

Lord knows you're deadly with a gun

While you two are in bed, she will always have you wrapped in her arms, her giant hands making it feel like you're wrapped in a cacoon, or it either looks like a koala hugging a tree. You don't even need a blanket because you'll always be wrapped around Carmilla

(Nsfw)

While having sex Carmilla will try her best to be gentle, but it fails most of the time. Sometimes, she'll go too hard or accidentally scratch you a bit.

Carmilla is most definitely a top, but you have to be the top most of the time. Because if you don't, I can only imagine the after shock. But, Carmilla is also a power bottom.

Either way, you're getting railed every time.

The reader is definitely a scratcher. So Carmilla's back or anywhere the reader was grabbing is probably scratched a bit.

(I like physical touch a lot, and that's the only thing you're getting about me)

So the reader is a hugger a bunch, hugging Carmilla's legs, body, neck. You just like wrapping your arms around her, honestly like me

The aftercare is her being very gentle while holding you close. Most of the time, you both will fall asleep right after, holding each other or take a bath together.

So yeah, I don't know how to do headcannons since I've never written for them. Overall I just say what I want to and don't give two fucks. I'm just here to supply thristy bastards like myself.

So, I hope that was a good first try. Also, again, I am so very sorry for not posting. Life just likes to fucks me over but, it does for everyone so this is the last time I'll bitch about my life

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Ok so, before the indigo disk released I heard there was going to be people with competitive movesets, so before it released I literally made myself an entire competitive team. IM A CASUAL PLAYER 😭😭 and I just think it’d be really funny that carmine and kieran would probably think i’m just gonna stroll up with my usual team but nope swords dance + scale shot 💃 if you could write their reactions to the new squad I just think it’d be funny lmao

(If you want the team I made for reference, it was koraidon, ogerpon, chien-pao, blood moon ursaluna, armarouge, and a shiny slither wing because I felt like having a shiny so I hunted one lol)

- 🪑🥚

Bro I went into the Indigo Disk 100% blind so you can imagine my shock when I realized double battles were gonna be everywhere </3

I mostly had a "fuck it we ball" mentality going through it (which made some battles go on for WAY too long), but later I taught my Ceruledge Poltergeist when I realized almost every NPC in the dlc uses held items.

Funny enough Ogerpon (with Spiky Shield) and BM Ursaluna were on my team. He was an absolute TANK with the assault vest and he knocked out Hydrapple with a Moonblast

Anyways enough rambling and onto the request!

......

Kieran

He was expecting your usual team when you started challenging the BB Elite Four, rolling his eyes at the thought of you trying to use the same old tactics to defeat him.

But he's changed. He's gotten stronger and wanted you to be surprised by what he can do now.

Instead, though, when you arrive to the championship battle...not only did you bring out Ogerpon with her teal mask to (supposedly) insult him, but you also had Chien-Pao, which may spell trouble for his Dragonite.

He'll admit, you were clever to bring a Pokémon who could lower the defense of all the others and cut their HP in half with Ruination..but he doesn't give up yet.

Seeing a shiny that looked like a Volcarona but fluffier was certainly bewildering--as is the Bloodmoon Ursaluna you managed to tame back in Kitakami and the Armarouge who sets up a Psychic Terrain to boost its Expanding Force, allowing it to hit two of his Pokémon at once.

Oh, and apparently you have not one but TWO Koraidons, with the one you brought into battle being more brash and a fierce fighter in its Apex build.

You set that one up with a Swords Dance + Scale Shot combo that absolutely kicks ass, somehow striking your opponents 4-5 times whenever you command it.

Kieran's certainly gotten smarter about his team, but so have you, and he's livid about it.

It was like you enjoyed knocking him down over and over again...yet he can't hear the reluctance in your voice as you utter the final move that finishes off his Hydrapple.

You knew you had to win. He needed to be humbled.

But it didn't feel good at all as you watched him crumble and Drayton rub his loss in his face.

Carmine

When you battled her, she (like her brother) expected to see some familiar faces on your team.

Yet you surprised her (in a good way, very much unlike her brother) with Ogerpon, and she smiles and asks if she missed her, with the legendary responding with a small hop and a happy trill....

Followed by a devastating Ivy Cudgel that lands a critical hit on her Pokémon.

Yeah, she can definitely tell you've been training the Ogre a lot, but she's proud of how confident she's grown nevertheless.

Seeing you have both Chien-Pao and another Koraidon working in tandem is impressive, especially with that Ruination + Swords Dance + Scale Shot combo you pulled.

BM Ursaluna and Shiny Slither Wing are the only two that genuinely shock Carmine, as she's only seen one in myths and the other....she's never seen in her entire life.

But after the trip to Area Zero, she understands Slither Wings better (although she's amazed you managed to find a shiny down there).

Either way, those two are powerhouses.

She remembered you talking about a little lonely Charcadet you found during an outbreak, and to see it has grown up into a mighty Armarouge was such a sweet thing to see.

You clearly took the time to plan out your team before coming to the Blueberry Academy.

Carmine found your battle to be fun.

Although she can't exactly say Kieran will feel the same way..considering Ogerpon is with you and you have some new tricks up your sleeve.

But she figured he oughta find that out for himself.

[dgiacomo]

Character Heights Update!

[As a follow-up to this post, I took the time to convert (most of) the textures needed in the right file structure in order to construct this image!

What this image is is most (not all, since some random villagers from the DLC are in this folder set too) of the characters in the unique character models folder from Scarlet and Violet. They're all to scale so they can be stood next to each other to see how tall they are compared to each other.

On this graph, the red line is Giacomo's height (since that's what I need for this blog/comic).

For those only interested in all these characters compared, you can stop reading here.

For people interested in this comic too, or who want some kind of numbers to heights, it's changed a couple of numbers for the heights of some characters, so here's a fresh list of heights for characters on/in this blog/comic and all the rest for good measure (by the scale I use);

Sada 5'07½" Turo 6'00" Nemona 5'07½" Penny 5'01" Arven 5'06" Clavell 5'05½" Dendra 5'07½" Tyme 5'05" Raifort 5'10" Miriam 5'04" Saguaro 6'03" Jacq 5'10" Salvatore 6'01" Hassel 6'03" Rika 5'06" Poppy 3'01" Geeta 5'09½" Larry 6'01½" Katy 5'06½" Kofu 5'09½" Brassius 5'08½" Iono 5'02½" Grusha 5'06" (with boots) 5'05" (roughly, without) Tulip 6'03½" (with heels) 5'11" (roughly, without) Ryme 5'06" (with shoes) 5'05" (roughly, without) Mela 5'02" (with boots) 5'01" (without) Eri 6'06" Atticus 5'07" Ortega 4'07" Giacomo 6'00" Kieran 4'11½" Carmine 5'11" Grandpa Yukito 5'07½" Grandma Hideko 5'07½" Kitakami Pokecenter Girl 5'05" Peachy's Shopkeep 5'00" Caretaker 5'06½" Perrin 5'03" Briar 5'06½" Cyrano 5'11" Drayton 5'07½" Amarys 5'03½" Lacey 5'03" Crispin 5'01½" BB Researcher 5'04" Item Maker Girl 5'04½" Snacksworth 5'06½"

("roughly, without" numbers are assumed since we don't have models without their shoes, but they either have big heels or chunky boots)

Thought that was interesting and that people would like to see!]

[kurooo-is-here]

hiii hello hiiiii i'm back with some more writing :3

writing for: Arven, Drayton, and Kieran

genre: selfship (x reader)

here are my general character interpretations of these three!

Arven:

loyal to a fault, because he's got abandonment issues. he never had anyone there for him besides his mabostiff, so he wants to be there for you.

his love languages are words of affirmation and acts of service. he'd visit you even if you were on the other side of the world.

he's an early bird. wakes up fairly early in the morning (~6 AM to 7 AM) to do meal preps and feed mabostiff. this comes with its perks though! you get to hear his deep morning voice and see his hair messy. :>

he secretly loves stargazing. to him, there's nothing better than sitting under the stars, hearing the outdoor ambience of the night.

he's super caring towards his pokemon! he feeds them on time and gives them extra love and treats.

speaking of food, he's got tons of recipes to share. he can make a KILLER mac and cheese. also, he absolutely wears aprons that have cute pokemon designs on them.

unironically describes his mood with food flavors. says he's feeling "sour" when he's upset, or "sweet" when he's excited.

he's like.... a puppy..,, he'll follow you anywhere and guard you when others try to steal you away..... (can you tell he's my favorite)

Drayton:

lowkey possessive. not just of you, but of things he's attached to. everything from his pokemon to the comfortable school life he's grown so fond of. he wouldnt trade them for the world.

his love languages are quality time and physical touch. he's a guy who loves cuddling and hanging out. he'd probably fall asleep with you while watching an hour-long youtube video about obscure 3ds game lore.

can't cook for shit!! he will literally just buy instant noodles and microwaveable meals because its easy and convenient LMAO

he doesn't like going out since he's lazy, but he's absolutely down to go shopping if its for snacks. he knows all the best ones.

he loves to battle! partly because he likes showing off how strong he is, but also because he thinks of it as a way to destress.

you'd think for being so lazy he wouldn't practice self-care, and this is mostly true-- but he definitely takes good care of his pokemon. that duraldon he traded you? make sure to keep it clean, it likes being polished every now and then. his flygon? it loves spicy foods. oh, and make sure to trim the scales on his dragonite every week. it gets a little moody otherwise.

he's the king of "this image/video is really funny but why do you have so many of them" over texting. he has a whole stash of silly images.

Kieran:

he gets anxious pretty easily, but he's usually more relaxed around you. he's also not used to receiving compliments, and will absolutely get shy and embarassed if you compliment him.

his love languages are words of affirmation and giving gifts! he gifted you an applin that one time, but he also shares his candy with you. what a sweetheart 🥺

speaking of sweets, he likes hard candies and chocolate! his fav chocolate is white chocolate. (conversely, carmine likes dark chocolate the most.)

gets both nervous and excited when he battles you. he hopes to win, but he also just wants to have fun!

he likes to listen to music when he needs to concentrate. it's good background noise, and more importantly, he is absolutely bopping his head to those tunes.

he likes alternative and indie rock music, plus edm and lofi. his playlist may or may not have a few "edgier" songs too, like "Gasoline" by Halsey and "Sarcasm" by Get Scared.

he absolutely had a nightcore phase.

regarding cooking, he prefers to get food from restaurants rather than cooking at home. he's not super confident in his cooking skills, but he isn't the worst at it either. (looking at you, drayton...)

he doesn't really understand internet culture since he doesn't have a phone. you might have to teach him about it yourself out of pity, because he gets so confused when people start saying they're getting "rizzed up" or something...

bro is absolutely autism-coded (speaking as someone with autism) and he hyperfixates sooo easily. he'll get obsessed with something for weeks and infodump to you constantly, and he definitely loses sleep over his interests. he's so shy about doing this with anyone else, so please lend an ear when you can. 🥹

[petpippin]

DON'T THEY KNOW? ͏͏─ izana kuro.

# allusions to canon-typical violence / abuse / general yandere themes.

"you know, i was half-expecting you to start scaling the walls."

it comes in form of a misplaced joke, and soon after izana's face falls, when you fail to laugh.

a part of you wishes he'd keep that awful smile on his face, if only to soothe your adrenaline-fried nerves. but izana has rarely been so merciful as to care for your feelings. in fact, you could probably count his instances of kindness on a single hand.

it's not in izana's blood to care if you're truly smiling, though you can tell it makes him happy when you try; granting him an immediate satisfaction seems to lull the mindless greed engraved deep in his soul, if only for that moment.

but now-- you're barely breathing. in fact, your lungs ache for replenishment, but you hardly notice, when you're absolutely paralysed by fear.

your eyes have grown wide as saucers, body going rigid. your fingers tremble in spite, and stuttering for mercy, tears well up in your eyes.

you're sobbing now, but you're not thinking enough to stop it; not when you're desperately trying to save yourself from the brutal beating that is creeping up on you.

you've seen izana handle men twice yours-- his size like meager mutts. his bare hands slam down like a judge's gavel, ruling out their grisly fate.

izana rarely blinks, then. his face slackens entirely, as if he's carrying out some mundane routine. a bloodied, sickening routine, but nothing out of the regular, nonetheless.

seldom does izana get excited, particularly frigid when it comes to chasing you down; and while you've never experienced the outmost extent of his wrath before, you know to brace yourself for what's coming.

up until now you've counted yourself lucky. but right, right at this point in time you curse your parents for ever bringing you into existence.

you curse yourself for ever running into izana in the first place, you curse the fact that you had let him frighten you into staying by his side.

"shut up," izana cuts you off. he tilts his head like a puppy, dainty eyelashes fluttering. you close your own eyes, drawing up your demise.

he approaches you, the dull thud of his boots quaking the cement flooring underneath you. no matter how hard you momentarily blind yourself, there's still that flash of carmine flooding your vision.

izana is slow to cup your cheek. he's so gentle with it that you barely feel his warm palm, rocking you against the cold.

he hums a little. "why did you run? i hate having to catch up with you."

you fear you'll offend izana, if you don't meet his eye. meagerly, you crack an eye open. "'m sorry. i'm so sorry, izana."

izana gathers a tiny smile. you will be sorry.

he's unblinking, an indicator of a sort of demure troubling. it's nothing, however, like you've seen with the closest of his companions, where he still carried out, maimed them mercilessly.

in pitying stead of that, izana graces you with a kiss. he sighs, thumb rubbing slow circles into the frost-bitten apple of your cheek.

"i know you are, angel."

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD.

[mylove-iv]

❝a waning goddess’s plight.❞

ʚ aged up, botw! link x goddess reincarnate, fem! reader ɞ

synopsis: star-crossed lovers whose duties were put forth foremost; you, a Hylian whose body held the soul of the very first goddess and the one who held his heart, and he, another holder of the soul of courage whose destiny always entailed danger and the one who you loved dearly.

genres: angst, romance | set during the calamity.

content warnings: active depictions of death (suicide), implied manipulation/corruption, a (tiny) spoiler, implications of Link despising Hylia and the royal family (mainly Hylia slander haha).

word count: 1.4k words.

―originally posted on @mydarling-iv, dec. 20, 2022.

ʚ masterlist ɞ

Link enters the great hall, memories of him and you within the said building flying in his mind, acting as a great comfort to the champion causing the corners of his lips to twitch into a small smile.

There’s a soft rustle and his body moves languidly, hand gripping the handle of the Master sword as his left arm readied his shield.

His eyes dart around the large piles of aged stone, light slowly filtering in the ruined hall before the moonlight fully paints the being who created the noise.

Link’s heart nearly stops and a pained, melancholy wraps tightly around his heart as his electric blue eyes land on your form.

Everything clicks into place and the anguish, pain, and sorrow winds itself so tightly around his soul that Link thinks the emotions he’s feeling is irreversible.

So you were the reason as to why Zelda's light stayed pure.

You were the reason why the malice hadn’t spread on such a larger scale.

You were the reason that allowed life to flourish, why everything and everyone was able to survive through the waves of malice the Camality sends out.

You were the reason why he kept going—why Link kept fighting.

You, the very essence of light itself reborn in a Hylian body, was the sole reason as to why people stayed safe—safer from Ganon’s malice infected beasts and the cruelties the said Calamity had to offer.

You, in all your pure holy glory, was slowly enveloped with malice as time had passed—taking on the very corruption that would have otherwise infected and killed Hyrule's royal princess, ultimately ending Hylia's bloodline.

The very goddess who started this entire mess and her wretched bloodline who continued it.

Damn them.

The warm glow of light you radiated was gradually extinguished and enveloped by the Calamity’s cold darkness.

And now you stood before Link, e/c eyes no longer twinkling with mirth, but instead dazzled with a bone-chilling carmine red.

You bore the full weight of the Calamity, preventing Zelda from being tainted and instead it was you who took the brunt of the corruption.

Damn them all. Link thought as he stared at your crumbling body that seemed to grab at any resemblance of sanity and your former self.

You, his beloved lover, stood before Link as a fragmented version of yourself, winding vines of malice embedded in your skin.

Your eyes flash a golden hue, the color your eyes shone whenever your divine power would show itself, and it shocks him to his very core.

Link wheezes as his chest painfully constricts at the underlying meaning—you’re still you, trying to fight the malice Ganon has infected you with.

Things had drastically changed over the span of a century; formerly known as the epitome of light and purity, you were now a husk of your past self and he the same, only now being forced to watch the fate you were ultimately doomed to.

Your eyes dazzle a crimson red and Link's body moves on his own, dodging your swift swing of the sword formed by malice in your deft hand.

He didn’t envision this to be your meeting.

Where your light once shined is now dimmed with an ominous darkness and he, was still the same, forced into a destiny he never wanted and is now struggling to accept the horrible fate you might have after this cursed encounter.

He doesn’t want this to be your end.

Your blades lock with his, eyes meeting intensely: your empty, ruby eyes pierce his own deeply and Link prevents the urge to cry out.

He doesn’t want to be the reason of your end.

It's tense. The air surrounding you both is charged with an unknown heaviness that weighs heavily on the champion's already scarred heart. The strain within Link's arms is numbing, the amount of weight you're putting into your blade causes both weapons to strain against each other tightly.

He didn't want this.

Amidst it all, Link wonders if your love was damned from the very start. You, a hindrance and a threat to the royal family, and he, a mere puppet of that damned goddess; to be used and thrown away in her cruel games whenever she pleases.

He doesn't want this.

Link’s heart aches with yearning, the hope lingering in his chest painful as he thinks of the what if’s and what could have been.

A peaceful life away from the harsh conformities of royal society, a safe home in the countryside, waking in each other’s arms every morning, not having to worry about your safety and well being in danger.

He hates this.

His heart shatters even more when he notices tears rolling down your face, it pains him more than he could ever express.

The remains of the great hall where you and he once danced in was cold and silent.

Instead of waltzing so care-freely with smiles adorning your lips, eyes twinkling with happiness and love, you both now danced a waltz of pained hearts and clashing blades.

His heart hurts.

Link’s strength wanes for a split second but you, the you the calamity had made a puppet of, caught onto his blunder and forcibly pressed further.

The Master sword flies from his grip and you catch it, smoke emanating from the palm you held the blade in: the very sword heroes of courage had wielded through the ages rejecting you as its wielder.

Because of its kind and virtuous maker, the goddess of light, the blade has recognized you as its master’s equal due to you housing the said goddess’s soul.

But now covered and corrupted with darkness, the light you once radiated was extinguished and the blade could no longer feel the purity of your light.

And he also could no longer bask in the light of your presence.

Link stares at you, a myriad of emotions flashing in his eyes, as his shoulders sag with exhaustion and defeat.

His eyes close and he awaits the blow, ending his life, but it never comes.

Instead, your palm cups his cheek and Link can’t bring himself to shiver at the lack of warmth it radiated.

Eyes flying open, his ultramarine eyes clash with your e/c eyes.

You smile painfully, exhaustion apparent in your orbs as you take in the image of your battle torn lover.

“I'm sorry.” You whisper and Link surges forward to stop you.

“NO!” Link shouts as time seems to slow, painful and ever so cruel.

The deed is done.

The Master sword impales you, smoking at the contact point where the metal blade meets your sullied body.

The Goddess blade weakens because of the malice consuming you and you physically wither as you stumble to your knees.

It hurts.

Link is quick to catch you, the burns of malice against his skin feel nothing compared to the numbness your incoming death brings.

“Please, my love.” He croaks, cupping your cheek as his tears land on your skin.

He never wanted this.

You smile weakly, eyes closing as you cup his face once more. “I love you,” It’s a hushed whisper that tumbles from your lips.

Your hand cupping his face falls and Link's hand catches it before he brings it to his face again.

It's quiet.

He places a small kiss to your palm as the tears pooling in his eyes burst, rolling down his cheeks at an alarming rate.

“I love you so much more.” His admission is subdued, his voice hoarse—his heart aching.

He didn’t want your parting to be like this.

Link had always envisioned your departure to be that one of comfort, one that came in the form of a peaceful and eternal slumber.

He never wanted this.

His sniffles turn into pained sobs before quieting down. Hand grasping the handle of the Master sword, Link gently and carefully pulls it out of your body.

Collecting you into his arms, he rests your limp head against his shoulder as he rests his on your clavicle.

Raising the blade, the handle burns his skin at the implication of what he’s about to do.

From being given the Master sword at the young age of twelve, the very blade has journeyed with Link till his fall in front of Fort Hateno a century ago and they have now just recently begun the start of their journey once more.

Only for the Hero of Courage to see the bitter end his lover was forced to endure that he decided that it was now the point where his time as the Goddess blade’s master ends.

He recalls the words his father spoke when Link was finally declared as the Hero of Courage and given the infamous sword to wield.  

The Master sword shall never be raised against its wielder.

Paying no mind, Link wraps his free arm around your waist in a final embrace as he presses your bodies flush together.

His eyes close as he thrusts the blade, first piercing through your chest then through his.

It's quiet, almost peaceful.

He never wanted this.

© 2024 𝐌𝐘𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄-𝐈𝐕. do not copy, repost, share, or translate any of my works to tumblr, social media, and any other websites/platforms.

[chestcongestion]

Demon-to-Demon Ch.1/5 : Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Warnings: Contagion, some mess

Word count: 3,763

I have no self control and wanted to smack a bunch of my favorite characters with the sick stick at once, so here's chapter 1 of my self-indulgent large-scale contagion fic, enjoy!

@onetrickponi Since I promised I'd tag when it was finished ^^

Alastor knew good and well that the day’s meeting would be trouble when he heard the audible strain in Ms. Carmine’s voice when she pointedly cleared her throat to get the other overlords’ attention. 

There was a grating, almost painful-sounding quality to it that made Alastor’s ears twitch, it reminded him of the hoarse undertones one would normally hear from a seasoned smoker.

The group of chattering overlords fell silent, turning their gaze toward Carmilla and awaiting the start of the meeting. 

“I just-” Carmilla paused, shutting her eyes and clearing her throat a second time, “-just wanted to apologize in advance for my voice. I’ve been fighting a sore throat since yesterday.”  

“You’re losing,” Velvette laughed from the opposite end of the table, rotating in her office chair and scrolling through her phone, her smug smile showing off her pearly white fangs, fangs made brighter when contrasted against her shimmering black lipstick. 

“I am aware, but thank you for that keen, mature observation, Velvette,” Carmilla spat back, swallowing and trying not to wince before blowing a tendril of her hair out of her face. 

“You’re very welcome,” Velvette replied, twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger. 

Alastor flashed Rosie a knowing look with lowered eyelids,  before redirecting his attention to Carmilla. 

“We are meeting today to discuss the recent ‘smog’ problem, there appears to be a red mist lingering in the air in the Doomsday district, and it is approaching the district borders,” Carmilla announced, “Zillia?” 

“Uhm… nobody seems bothered by it, to be honest, but I can’t figure out where the hell it came from, it just appeared, and it isn’t goin’ away either,” Zillia explained, “Nobody’s complained about having trouble breathin’... or seein’ really, it’s just kinda weird.”  

“So there’s just a blanket of red mist hangin’ in the air, but it isn’t causing any trouble?” Rosie inquired, raising an eyebrow, “Nothin’ at all?” 

“Nope! It even smells nice,” Zillia replied, resting her head in her palm. 

“It does, I was visiting the district the other day and its fragrance is oddly pleasant…like freshly-picked flowers,” Carmilla said with a wistful sigh, wincing through another dry swallow only to smile when Odette handed her a glass of water, which she eagerly finished in three gulps. 

“So we’re here to talk about a non-problem?” Velvette asked, not even bothering to look up from her phone. 

“ ‘Twould be a wise decision for thou to refrain from such idle chatter whilst the adults are speaking,” Zestial hissed from his seat, staring at Velvette with unblinking eyes.  

Velvette complied, returning Zestial’s jab with a raised middle finger and a well-researched bite to the thumb. 

Zestial held back a gasp, “Insolent girl,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Dusty fuckhead,” 

“Senseless wretch…” 

“Spindly geezer,” 

“Overgrown infant!” 

“Senile shitstain!” 

Zestial and Velvette’s escalating squabble quickly died down, both turning to glance at Carmilla, who had two of her large fingers pinching the theoretical bridge of her nose, an area that had quickly flushed an irritated pink. She sniffled twice, before holding both hands over her mouth in a futile attempt to silence a hoarse, rough-sounding cough. 

A minute passed, and Carmilla fought every bone in her body to keep from flushing with embarrassment.  

“Carmilla?” Zestial inquired, only to receive an anxious glance in return.  

Velvette snickered, sliding a travel-sized package of tissues across the table and leaning back in her chair, “Have at it, old bird, sounds like you need one.” 

“Th-thank you,” Carmilla replied, her consonants sounding noticeably muffled as she picked a tissue from the package and held it up to her face, noisily blowing her “nose” until she had to pause to take a deep breath, “Excuse me…” 

Alastor’s ear twitched, and he nervously drummed his fingertips against the table, shooting Rosie another knowing look, practically blinking at her in morse code. 

“What’s eatin’ you?” Rosie whispered, “Quit battin’ your eyelashes at me and spill.” 

“We should leave,” Alastor whispered back through clenched teeth. 

“Why?” Rosie inquired, only to be interrupted by Carmilla loudly blowing her nose a second time, soaking another tissue and closing with a loud honk, which made Rosie giggle. 

“Unless you want that to be you, I suggest we make our exit,” Alastor whispered, his eyes looking desperate and frightful in spite of his wide grin. 

“Oh hush, don’t be so dramatic,” Rosie argued, playfully tugging at one of Alastor’s ears. 

“Uch… Clara, what else were we supposed to discuss? I’ve lost my train of thought,” Carmilla asked, the center of her face and the underside of her eyes looking pinkish-red and puffy from the irritation. 

“There’s nothing else on the agenda, Mom,” Clara said in a hushed voice, showing her mother the empty clipboard. 

“Oh for the love of-” Carmilla groaned, massaging her temples with her large fingers, “This is…ih… i-ih…” 

Alastor’s stomach dropped, he knew that sound, that sound may as well be the click of a pin being yanked from a grenade, the beeping of a volatile time bomb, the- 

“Ih’ktshhhiew! Ih’tshhew! Ih’ktschiew! IH’KSHHHUH!” 

A dense cloud of infectious droplets sprayed into the open air through a wide gap in Carmilla’s fingers, stretching across the entire table, if not the room. 

Alastor’s mind flashed with images of ailing neighbors and frazzled doctors, of boarded-up storefronts and oxygen-starved soldiers lying on tarps in the grass. It was a rough two years… a rough three, frankly. 

“Alastor, snap out of it,” Rosie whispered, gently tapping on the back of Alastor’s head. 

“Yes, thank you,” he replied, trying and failing to tune out Carmilla’s sniffling in the background as he thought about scrubbing himself down with lye and dunking himself in a tub of boiling water.

“Ih’tschhhiew! Hnk’tchew!... My apologies, I just- Ih’ktschhiew!- I didn’t think this would happen,” Carmilla said, her voice hoarse and exhausted as she wiped the watery underside of her eyes with her thumb. 

“Gesundheit! Don’t sweat it, sweetie, but I think you should get some rest,” Rosie said, managing a knowing smile at Carmilla, who weakly smiled back. 

“I think so too… meeting adjourned- Hi-iih…HIH’TSCHHIEW!- ‘Scuse me…” Carmilla announced, loudly blowing her nose as she turned to exit the room with her daughters. 

Alastor hurriedly gestured at the door, begging Rosie to follow him, not wanting to breathe in the poisoned air of the meeting room for a second longer. 

“Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming, calm down,” Rosie chuckled, grabbing hold of her umbrella and following Alastor outside, “Goodness, a few sneezes and you turn into a maniac!” 

“Apologies, when you spend a year working as a volunteer ambulance driver in 1919, you learn not to be quite so relaxed when there’s germ-riddled moisture all over your face,” Alastor rambled, feeling a chill run up his spine at the damp fur on his ears, “E u ch!” 

Rosie rolled her eyes, “Go home and wash your ears, silly, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said with a nonchalant grin, twirling her umbrella in her hand as she headed back to Cannibal Town. 

Alastor sighed, vanishing into his shadow and resigning himself to heading back home. He needed to take a bath in some turpentine and light his clothes on fire, knock back a few bottles of rubbing alcohol, anything to keep whatever Carmilla sprayed across the meeting room out of his body. 

Hours later, Husk jumped out of his skin when his “keeper” appeared out of his own shadowy mist in front of the bar, grumbling to himself with an iron grip on his microphone. 

“You’re just too fuckin’ good to walk anywhere, huh? Poofin’ out of the shadows is just too easy… whadda you want?” Husk asked, cleaning a beer mug while he awaited Alastor’s response. 

“I need a shot of whatever you use to clean off the counter,” 

Husk blinked. 

“I’m sorry… what? Not that you can’t handle your liquor… but I don’t think I’d trust you with anything’ harder than a couple whiskey neats,” 

“Hand me the bottle,” Alastor muttered through clenched teeth, twisting the safety nozzle of the spray bottle of disinfectant that Husk kept behind the bar. He spritzed both of his eyes before liberally spraying the back of his throat, knocking back the residue with a harsh swallow before sliding the spray bottle back in Husk’s direction. 

“... The hell is wrong with you?” Husk asked. 

“Absolutely nothing, nothing I’d concern myself with telling you, anyways,” Alastor replied with narrowed eyelids. 

“Well then… suppose I’ll have to keep lemon disinfectant around for the next time you’re feelin’ adventurous,” 

Husk’s little comment and the laughter that followed irritated Alastor, and the radio demon considered beaning the cat in the back of the head with his microphone, only to be wrenched out of his thoughts by a sudden itch in his sinuses, forcing him to raise the back of his hand under his nose. 

‘Come on Alastor, you’re better than this, fight it, fight it, fight it-’ 

“Hnk! Hnk’tshh! Hhk’tshh!” 

Husk’s ear twitched, and his face stretched into a knowing smile as he zeroed his focus on Alastor’s nose, “You know-” 

“Shush,” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever-” 

“Quiet.” 

“Ever-” 

“Husk,” Alastor hissed, preparing his arm to reach for Husk’s throat, only to be stopped in his tracks by his itchy nose, “H-hihh…Huhh…h-huh..” 

“Heard you sneeze,” Husk whispered, knowing that he’d caught Alastor off guard, “Until now, anyways.” 

“Hu’hktschoo! Huh’ptshhhoo! Hnk’TSCHOO!... Huh….HUH’PTSchhiEWWW!” 

Husk grinned as he watched Alastor blearily pat around on his person for a pristine red handkerchief that was tucked into his front pocket, pulling it out and pinching it around his nostrils before letting out a dense, gurgling blow. 

“I take it that is what the disinfectant was supposed to prevent,” Husk laughed, “Whatever it is you managed to catch, it sounds nasty…shit.” 

“I could kill you with my bare hands,” Alastor hissed, pantomiming the act of strangling Husk, only to be caught unawares by another itch, “HNK’TSsschHIEWW! Hnk’Tschhiiew!” 

“I’m aware, but maybe put it off a few days, I’d rather not have snot on my corpse’s face,” Husk teased. 

“You are a mbiserable drunkard, and I hate you- Snff!- I really do,” Alastor replied, blowing his nose a second time and struggling not to scowl at how damp his handkerchief was beginning to feel underneath his fingers. “Right back atcha,” Husk said, poking Alastor’s nose with a sly grin, watching his boss’s nose twitch helplessly. “Nghh…Gh-hhuh…H-Huhh- HNK’TSCHOO! H-uh’tzZZShhOO! Huh’ktSCHEW! H-huh’TSCHOO! Hnk’TschhhiEW!” Alastor sneezed, only able to hold his hands loosely in front of his face, paralyzed by the fit. 

Husk winced, wiping off his face and wiping down the bar counter, “Fuckin’ hell, remind me to drink the rest of that disinfectant when I’m done cleanin’ this up, might be too late for you but I like breathin’ through my nose,” he grumbled. 

“Snff-snff! Uch… I don’t think I’ve ever felt this… slimy or disorganized in mby entire life- Snfff!” Alastor said, blowing his nose again and trying not to think about how loose and wet it sounded, “I have no idea where all of it is even coming from.”  

“Well, make yourself scarce, I’m not trying to find out,” Husk replied, pausing and turning to the front door of the hotel upon hearing it swing open, “Welcome back, Princess.” 

“Hii, I’m so excited for some quality bonding time now that Cherri is staying with us! I haven’t been able to just relax and watch a movie in years,” Charlie said with a smile as Vaggie snuck behind her to head upstairs, “Is Angel back yet?” 

“Nah, he’s still at work, but he said he’d try and make it here in time,” Husk stated, checking his phone to see if Angel had texted him anything new, “How’d the recruitment effort go?” 

“Uhm, better! Some people seemed interested and actually kept the pamphlets I gave them, but a lot of people said they didn’t wanna touch my hand or get too close because they weren’t feeling well… which was surprisingly considerate for a huge group of sinners,” Charlie explained, rambling as she leaned against the back of the sofa in the parlor, “Half the people I spoke to either mentioned they thought they were sick or they looked sick… I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many sick people in one day.” 

“Really?” Husk asked with a knowing smirk, “Somethin’ must be going around…” 

“I guess so, yeah,” Charlie replied, “Alastor! How was the overlord meeting?”  

“Oh it was alright- snff- a bit shorter than expected. Don’t think I came away with anything of note,” Alastor responded, holding his damp handkerchief behind his back and wrestling with the urge to rub his nose. It was so itchy. 

“I can think of something… ” Husk muttered playfully, seemingly unbothered when Alastor whipped his head around to stare daggers at him. 

“Has everyone thought about what movie they’re gonna suggest for movie night tonight?” Charlie asked, grinning and bouncing on her heels, “Because I have, and I’m so excited!” 

“Ooo! I did! I did! I’m so excited, I haven’t been able to see it since I was alive!” Nifty exclaimed, dropping from the ceiling onto Alastor’s shoulders, clutching a feather duster. She was so preoccupied with thinking about which movie she’d picked, she didn’t notice her feather duster brushing against Alastor’s nose. 

“HUH’PTSHOO! Huh’ptschiew! Hhn’ktshew! HHN’KTSHIIEW! Huh’PTSHHIEW!.... Oh mby goodness…snf-snf!...Ndiffty…” Alastor groaned, wetly blowing his nose and trying to avoid Charlie’s concerned gaze, “Don’t look at mbe like that.”  

“Sorry- not looking, not looking,” Charlie replied sheepishly, averting her gaze from Alastor by staring at the carpet, “That just sounded… uhm… a teeny tiny bit-” 

“Gross!” Vaggie called from upstairs, “The word she’s looking for is ‘gross’!” 

Husk flopped onto his back behind the bar, struggling to contain his laughter. 

“I was going to say ‘wet’... but I guess that works too,” Charlie said, shooting Alastor a nervous glance, “You feeling okay?” 

Alastor narrows his eyelids, his grin still stretched across his face in spite of his angry eyebrows and puffy, miserable-looking eyelids to match his irritated and streaming nose, “Would you believe mbe if I said yes?” he asked knowingly. 

“Not really, no, you sound awful,” Charlie admitted, quietly gesturing for Alastor to lean down, reaching out a hand and pressing her palm to the Radio Demon’s forehead when he reluctantly complied, “You feel warm, too. You probably just caught whatever’s going around, don’t worry!” 

“I’ll try mby best not to,” Alastor replied, blowing his nose again and wincing at how wet the fabric was getting, “Snff-snff! Pardon me…” 

Charlie looked at the sniffling overlord with concern, before getting back her typical kind smile, “You should take a hot shower and change into something more comfortable if you’re sick! By the time all of us get ready, Angel and Cherri will probably be back, and we can pick the movie for tonight!” 

Alastor considered arguing, considered vanishing into a puff of shadowy smoke and reappearing in Cannibal Town to crash with Rosie, considered sprinting out the door and going into hiding… but he’d been found out, and all of the sneezing he’d been doing was definitely catching up to him, he was exhausted.  

“Alright, I’ll be back down,” Alastor said with a nod, vanishing upstairs, but not before catching a sharp “Hnk-Tchoo!” with his handkerchief.  

“I’m gonna go get ready, too,” Charlie said, turning to Husk, “You coming?” 

“Nah, Angel just texted me on his break, I’m gonna ask him how the shoot’s going for a little while, I’ll catch up,” Husk replied, leaning against the bar counter and tapping slowly at his phone, shooting Angel a message and waiting patiently for a reply. 

[Don’t forget about tonight… almost done filming?] 

On the opposite side of Pentagram City, Angel stared at his phone, attempting to think of a response, only to peek over at his boss from the other side of the cameras. 

Valentino was working through a plot hole that Travis left in the script- while lecturing Travis about it- and it was taking longer than expected. While they spoke, Valentino was also busy moisturizing and straightening Velvette’s hair to get her ready for an auction she was heading to that night. 

Velvette typically had her assistants help with her hair, but she wandered downstairs to the porn studio because she had a headache and the vibrant lighting in her studio was making things worse. 

Angel stared at the pair of overlords in silence while he tugged his underwear back on and tidied up his fluff with a hairbrush. 

“Y’know what? Fuck it, nobody’s gonna notice the inconsistency anyways, if they’re watching porn for the plot, they’re doing it wrong,” Valentino conceded, rolling his eyes at Travis and taking a deep drag from his cigarette, smiling at the hit of nicotine before blowing out a large heart-shaped plume of smoke, his smile fading when he heard Velvette start to cough from her position in front of his legs, “Oh shit, sorry pequeñita, I forgot you hate the smell of these.” 

Valentino took a second puff, blowing his next plume of smoke at the ceiling, only to stop upon hearing Velvette’s cough again: a persistent, hacking cough that forced Velvette to draw deep breaths in between bursts. Ashing his cigarette, Valentino used one of his hands to pat Velvette on the back. 

“Fuck, Vel, you good?” Valentino asked, his attempts to help dislodge what he assumed was just something stuck in his colleague’s windpipe getting more intense. 

“S-stop it,” Velvette wheezed, tucking her head into her knees and letting out a heavy barking cough that made her entire body vibrate, but seemed to alleviate the ticklish feeling in her throat, “Fuck…” 

“That was a rough ass cough,” Valentino said, running his fingers through Velvette’s freshly-straightened locks and wincing at the searing heat he felt upon touching the side of her head, “-Shit, Vel, why didn’t you tell me I burned you?” 

“You-” Velvette clenched her teeth to smother another coughing fit, “- you didn’t burn me…” she replied. 

“You sure? It feels so hot right here, I just thought…wait a second…” Valentino paused, pulling off one of his gloves and pressing his bare palm against Velvette’s forehead, “Yeah… tienes fiebre, I think the auction is gonna have to wait for another time… how do you feel?” 

“My head hurts, my throat hurts, I’m tired, and every time I breathe I feel like I need to cough,” Velvette complained, leaning back against Valentino’s legs, “This is horseshit…Hh’tshh! Hhn’tshh! Hnk’tshh!” 

Valentino frowned, running his fingers through Velvette’s hair, “Okay people, that’s a wrap for tonight, see you tomorrow!” he announced, clapping to dismiss the film staff and the actors before gathering Velvette in his arms and turning on his heel to leave the studio, “Let’s get you something hot to drink and some comfy clothes, hm?” 

“Put mbe down… Hnk’tshh!... I’b a grown woman,” Velvette hissed, pushing away from Valentino’s chest, only to lean against his shoulder after only a few seconds of protest, “Actually, nevermind…snff!... I’b too tired to walk. Fuck it.”  

“Mmmhm, that’s why I picked you up,” Valentino teased as he walked, eventually vanishing down the hall and leaving Angel in the studio alone. 

“Hell yes,” Angel cheered, hurrying to put on the rest of  his clothes and texting Husk that he’d be home earlier than expected. 

A couple of hours later, the group was gathered together on the sofa in the parlor, all cozied up in their pajamas. 

Charlie and Vaggie reclined against one another, Angel stretched out across Husk’s lap, Niffty was seated in front of the sofa on the carpet, Cherri was sat in the armchair on the right side of the sofa, and Alastor was reclined in the armchair on the left. 

“So, who gets to pick tonight’s movie?” Angel asked, petting Husk between his ears, listening to his partner’s satisfied purring. 

“We drew straws, and Niffty won, so we’re watching…” Charlie began, turning to Niffty to wait for her selection. 

“Singin’ in the Rain!” Niffty cheered, clapping her hands quietly, “It’s one of the last films I saw before I died!”

Charlie nodded, pressing play on the chunky CRT television in the parlor, and leaning against Vaggie as the film began to play. 

Alastor blew his nose into his handkerchief, glaring at the wet fabric and conjuring himself a dry one out of thin air, moving to put it away before feeling a familiar building itch. 

“Hnk’TSHH-iew! HNK’TShhiew! HNK’Tshh-iew! HNK’Zzzt!” 

Charlie peeked over from her spot on the sofa, mouthing ‘Bless you’ at Alastor before returning her attention to the movie. 

Alastor returned the gesture with a quiet nod, straining to avoid rolling his eyes at the idea of letting himself be so… vulnerable around these people. The Radio Demon silently thanked his lucky stars that Lucifer was on a brief whirlwind tour through the rest of Hell to get back in touch with the other sins, meaning that he wouldn’t be around to bear witness to Alastor’s embarrassing misery. 

“HNK’Tshh! Hh’kzzhht! Hh’Kshoo!” 

Alastor shivered, leaning back in his armchair and attempting to focus on the movie to take his mind off of the throbbing sensation in the back of his throat, or the incessant tickle in his sinuses. He couldn’t wrap his mind around why he suddenly felt so cold. 

Lost in his thoughts, Alastor barely noticed it when something warm and soft was draped over his shoulders, and a bundle of warmth gathered in his lap. Upon regaining focus, Alastor noticed that someone had draped a blanket over him, leaving his arms free, and that KeeKee was curled up in his lap, purring softly. 

Resigned to his fate, Alastor simply began stroking KeeKee’s back, the soft static in the background of the film and the cat’s blissful purring beginning to make him drowsy. 

“Ooo! This is my favorite part! Alastor, look, this is the actor I said you looked like when we met!” Niffty whispered, eagerly tugging on Alastor’s pant leg to get his attention, only to be met with silence, “Alastor?”  

Niffty looked up only to see Alastor relaxed and fast asleep, his back pressed against the armchair and his usual grin reduced to a soft, toothless smile. Congestion rumbled in his sinuses as he snored, his nose twitching every so often to fight the constant tickle threatening to disturb his slumber by making him sneeze. 

“I’ll show him later,” Niffty whispered, hugging Alastor’s ankles and going back to watching the movie, “Maybe he’ll feel better tomorrow…” 

[ask-thebbleague]

Amarys, on a scale from 1 to 10, how likely is it that someone will be murdered by the hands of Carmine...my money is on drayton.

This is assuming that "1" is "not very likely" and "10" is "very likely."

- Amarys

[seramilla]

Verosika and her posse plus Velvette decide to visit the carmine industries headquarters, why? Because verosika missed her little bugaboo and Velvette and Kiki wouldn’t stop complaining about missing Clara. Only problem? They have no damn clue where ether of them are due to the headquarter being so much larger than the factories spread out in the carmine territory.

So they are forced to ask a nearby worker who in turn happily tells them but has the edge to flirt with verosika. Unfortunately for them, Odette happened to be rounding the corner so she creeps behind them and waits until they’re done so she can make herself know which makes not only the worker nearly shit themself but the posse and verosika as well because they hadn’t heard or seen Odette coming. Odette just glares down at the work before she simply tells “work. Now.” and she doesn’t have to repeat herself for the worker to go running off scared shitless.

Field trip! Field trip! Field trip! Can you imagine them all just walking through the front door, eyeballs all sparkly in wonder (and also high-key intimidated by how huge-mongous the buildings are)?

I think we all know who's really next in line for the big chair at Carmine Industries. Odette and Clara both have equal stakes in the company, but Odette just has a Way™️ about her that is like Carmilla 2.0, with the added level of being extremely protective of her partner now that they've gone public. I don't think Hell is gonna be ready for that level of Boss Babe, but it needs to start thinking about it.

Also, I think Velvette would be low-key impressed at how much goes into managing the company. She was probably like, "Yeah, getting inside, gonna learn some secrets!" and then being blown away at the sheer scale of Carmilla's enterprise. Like yeah, she works with companies that manufacture her clothes and potions, but she doesn't get that involved in all the little details. She has people for that. On the other hand, Odette and Clara are out here getting their hands dirty, crunching numbers, spending all day in meetings, and testing new prototypes that cross Carmilla's desk.

Satan, but Velvette has a lot she could learn from Clara, let alone Carmilla.

[adobe-outdesign]

What the heck, my personal height headcanons for the tall ladies:

Carmine: 6’

Zisu: 6’1

Nessa: 5’9

Eri: 6’2

Nemona: 5’10

Shelley: 5’10

Lusamine: 6’

Cynthia can be tall, too. Cyrus is the tallest member of Team Galactic, so he’s good height even for a man. If he’s 6’, Cynthia can be 5’9, give or take two or three inches for them both.

If the anime has any degree of accurate scaling, Garchomp is 6'03" here so she's gotta be near that 6' mark so yeah that seems right

[emira-addams]

Hazbin Hotel - Odette x Velvette - Juliet and Juliet in Hell

Chapter 03: An Afternoon Ablaze

Tortured by tenacious boredom, the finest form of torment, Velvette's gaze traveled out of the ceiling-high windows of the meeting room. By hellish standards, it was a beautiful afternoon and the horizon radiated in clear red. She felt like she was back in her school days. Oh, how she had hated that waste of time. In her mind's eye, she pictured her escape from this Overlord meeting. She longed to escape the four walls of the meeting room and Carmine's soporific monologue.

Velvette blinked. She suppressed a yawn and tried in vain to rub the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze roamed the room in search of a distraction, finally fixing on Clara and Odette. Even Carmilla’s daughters seemed bored.

Head atop the table, Clara lay snoring in a pool of her own drool, while Odette had rested her head on the high back of her chair. She gazed up into the glaring light of the overhead lamp, glassy-eyed and open-mouthed.

"Velvette?" Carmilla cleared her throat. She stopped her monologue and caught Velvette's gaze, which was still fixed on Odette. Her face wrinkled into a grimace, her gaze piercing Velvette with hatred. "Are you mentally and physically present or is the substance of my talk too much for your mental capacities?"

"Hm..." Velvette growled. Today she had the sinking feeling that Carmilla was out to get her in particular. Perhaps her weird attitude had something to do with the party?

Valentino, who was sitting opposite his colleague and seemed to be enjoying the whole scene, laughed out loud. But the very next moment he howled miserably. He writhed in pain in his chair as Velvette's boot kicked him in the crotch.

"Shut up, Val..." With a self-satisfied smile on her lips, Velvette enjoyed watching Valentino wince in pain. He threatened her with his fist while she sipped the contents of her coffee cup with delight.

"Please restrain yourself, Velvette!" scolded Carmilla. In her agitation, however, she lost the thread of her talk and dropped all her nifty notes to the floor.

"Not fully focused today, are you? My condolences, Carmine, it must be the advanced age..." Velvette laughed louder than Valentino and Vox, while Carmilla got down to the floor to gather up her notes. Her crimson face reappeared, stammering and stuttering, the flush of embarrassment creeping into her cheeks and coloring them.

Suddenly, Rosie rose from her chair. "It's time for a break," the cannibal announced with clasped hands, as always full of friendliness and high spirits. "I think we should all use the time to stretch our legs! Out you go!" she shooed them.

Chattering, the other Overlords rose with relief from their chairs and left the meeting room, almost in a hurry, while Rosie hurried to Carmilla's help.

"Oh, my poor Milly..."

Velvette perked her ears in curiosity, standing up slowly and grabbing her coffee cup. She wanted to know what Carmilla and Rosie were going to discuss between them, but the cannibal was quick to grab her by her shoulders, leaving no room for protest, and shove her out of the room, before carefully closing the door behind her.

"Fuck..." muttered Velvette with disappointment, she really wanted to know what was up with Carmilla.

Velvette begann impatiently pacing up and down the long corridor outside the meeting room, uninterested in conversation with the other Overlords and pissed about her time getting wasted. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the shimmering eels in the aquarium, their scales shining in the bright light, when suddenly her gaze caught sight of Odette.

"Aww..." Velvette suddenly thought. Carmine's daughter had sunken into the soft cushions of an armchair outside the meeting room, giving in to her urgent need for sleep, it must have been a long night. A smile spread across Velvette's lips, as there was still an empty seat next to Odette.

"Good morning!" cackled Velvette as she collapsed loudly into the cushions, startling Odette very rudely from her sleep. "Did my dearest geek get a good nap?" she wanted to know with a broad grin. "Let me guess, you were dreaming about me?"

Odette groaned. "I hate you for that!" She buried her face in her hands, rubbing the remaining sleep from her eyes.

"No, you don't!" objected Velvette.

"Maybe…" Odette pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you want from me?"

Velvette shoved her coffee in her face, a bit of black lipstick was left behind on the cardboard cup. "Caffeine to fight the fatigue?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance as Odette adjusted the glasses on her nose and sniffed skeptically at the contents of the cup. "Oh, don't be like that. I swear, the coffee isn't poisoned..." Velvette took a sip to prove it. "I was just trying to be nice to you." She shrugged. "But if you don't want me to share my coffee with you and-"

"Shut up, Velvette. You talk way too much..." Odette greedily grabbed the cup and downed the caffeinated contents in quick gulps. "Way too much sugar!" She cringed.

"You've got something there," Velvette remarked. Odette had bits of her black lipstick left in the corner of her mouth.

"Where?" Odette desperately tried to wipe the stains from her face.

"Wait..." Velvette closed the distance between her and Odette. She carefully lifted her chin and wiped the lipstick away with her thumb. "Hm... And once again I have to come to your rescue. I seem to be your knight in shining armor..."

Suddenly, their eyes met. Velvette gazed straight and silently into Odette's eyes while she felt her heart skip a beat. She lost herself deeper and deeper in the pure crimson.

"I'm sorry..." Velvette whispered, her voice wavering.

What was she apologizing for?

She snapped out of her trance. She quickly turned to hide the blush from Odette, which crept up her face and crawled into her cheeks.

"We're ready to restart!" announced Rosie’s booming voice, while suddenly yanking open the doors to the meeting room.

Startled, Odette jumped up. She moved a safe distance away from Velvette and their stares separated. Odette looked out the window and Velvette at her hands.

The rest of the Overlords began to scramble back into the meeting room, but Velvette didn't want to go back just yet.

"S-Shall we..." On her spot, Velvette begann to shuffle agitatedly from one food to the other. Fingers clammy, she wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. Her hands shook and her voice wobbled.

Why was she suddenly so awfully flustered in Odette's presence?

"Uhm... Shall we skip the rest of the Overlord meeting and... a-and go for coffee?"

Why was this question so difficult get across her lips when faced with Odette?

"I-I'll pay for you too!" Velvette quickly promised, her voice threatening to crack and the words to die on her tongue.

At first, Velvette saw Odette hesitating briefly. Disappointment already settled like a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't think I could survive the rest of the meeting without caffeine..."

Velvette’s face lit up, her eyes suddenly glowing. "It will be my pleasure!" A sincere smile now graced Velvette's lips as she offered her hand to Odette and led her in the opposite direction to the meeting room and towards the elevators.

"Where's your sister?" Carmilla wanted to know from Clara. "We want to resume the meeting..." she hissed in irritation. Among the Overlords, she missed the faces of the three Vees, as well as her eldest daughter. In addition, a bad sense of foreboding began to gnaw at her and plague her mind.

"No idea?" Clara claimed. She shrugged her shoulders and put on her most innocent face.

"Zestial, have you seen Odette?" When the ancient overlord shook his head silently, Carmilla leapt out of her chair. Her notes almost slipped out of her hands and into chaos onto the floor again.

Rosie caught them for her. "Milly, sit down!" she strictly commanded.

A strong hand on her shoulder forced Carmilla to sit back down on her chair. "Velvette’s disappeared with my daughter!" she protested. "Who knows where they are or what she's doing with her?"

"Please calm down," Rosie carefully sought to soothe her. Her hand moved from her shoulder to her hand and she squeezed it gently. "You and I will deal with Odette together later, yes?" she promised, giving Carmilla a smile full of sharp teeth. "But right now, unfortunately, the Overlord- Meeting is much more important... We only have a few months left until the next extermination and we're running out of time."

"Yes, you’re right…" Carmilla sighed sorrowfully. "Thank you, Rosie..."

Chapter 04:

[milkpumpkin96]

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Review

Part I: The Teal Mask

I have a lot to say about Pokémon Scarlet & Violet as a whole . . . but damn, this game is ginormous. I have recently completed "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC in its entirety, but since it is absolutely stuffed with new content, I am going to divide up my review.

It is quite clear that Gen IX has . . . its flaws. But nonetheless, I adored this DLC like you cannot imagine (graphical concerns aside).

Pokémon has always been a huge part of my life and I am eager to talk about it. I think that the DLC could have been cheaper to purchase, but it is definitely worth it for Pokémon fans.

I know I am late to the party because "The Teal Mask" came out like half a year ago, but oh well!

[ MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING ]

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

For the most part, I went into the DLC blind. I did not view posts or trailers or anything about it beforehand. As such, I was in for a nice surprise!

Overall, "The Teal Mask" featured definite improvements from the base game. I consider myself lucky in that I never experienced the hoards of bizarre or game-breaking glitches that other players dealt with in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. The DLC had some slight upgrades in this regard. Slight.

That being said, the fact that performance issues remain present only highlights the indolence of Game Freak. Since, on the other hand, Nintendo has Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4 pushing the Nintendo Switch's capabilities to the max and can run fine and look stunning in its own right.

Otherwise, the soundtrack, the storyline, the characters, and the aesthetic of the DLC are phenomenal and feature some of my favorite elements compared to the main game. Also, "The Teal Mask" certainly offered quite a fresh challenge (at least for casual players).

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GAMEPLAY: 6/10

As stated, the biggest disappointment with the DLC is its failure to properly fine-tune the performance issues. Cutscenes still lag; and holy hell, the cutscene of the MC and Carmine gazing at the Crystal Pool is egregiously choppy. The game tried sooo hard to feature the sparkling beauty of the pool but to no avail. It seems that this severe lag happened to everyone, which made the already underwhelming Milotic jump scare even more underwhelming.

The game does not look awful, but still pretty bad. Game Freak totally is not a billion-dollar franchise capable of more, right?

Players still have instances of sudden FPS drops, especially when Koraidon/Miraidon tries to run and jump (this is most apparent during the Ogre Oustin' minigame).

The smallness of the map will be this DLC's savior, which I will discuss under my "setting" review category. But, in regards to the graphics, I think if the map were any larger, "The Teal Mask" and its areas would be sooo sluggish and lackluster compared to many places in the base game. This is due to the lack of NPC density and really anything going on outside of the three major locations of Kitakami.

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I still believe that Pokémon has its own charm though. At the very least, the land of Kitakami is enticing and pretty.

I did not experience any glitches in "The Teal Mask." The performance ran smoother on my own copy compared to other players, because I have heard the other people had more prominent performance errors in their DLC.

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Moving on, I will say that the difficult scaling of the DLC surprised me in a good way. This is especially true for casual players like myself!

The game is not hard, but it is not easy either. If you choose to begin part one of the DLC after beating the base game and post-game, the Pokémon in "The Teal Mask" are between levels 60s-70s. This shocked me as being a fairly difficult starting point (especially since this is only part one of the DLC, and it is kind of its own game).

I am a fully casual player. Say what you will, but by the time I completed the post-game of Pokémon Scarlet, my highest level Pokémon (my Skeledirge) was about level 71. Most of my main party were between levels 50-70, so the DLC being at this level was amazing for me. A perfect blend of enjoyment and challenge.

Even for competitive players and heedless grinders, there is still some difficulty to be had. This is particularly the case with the optional ogre clan members you can battle--which their Pokémon are level 75--and also even some battles against Kieran can come as a surprise. If your team is all maxed at level 100 . . . then of course you can blast your way through.

Personally, I lost to several ogre clan members, and nearly to Kieran as well.

Some other people might want to start from scratch and foster a brand new team in the land of Kitakami. I actually recommend doing so if you want to experiment with the new entries in the Pokedex and have a nice and fun challenge.

If you start the DLC before you finish the main game (which is possible), "The Teal Mask" will try to scale down to your own level.

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Aside from battling, there are other extra features players can engage with. At the "Festival of Masks," you can try a minigame called "Ogre Oustin,'" in which your MC rides on Koraidon/Miraidon and attempts to pop ogre-themed balloons and retrieve berries of certain colors (red, grey, green, and blue). These colorations match the masks held by Ogerpon, hence the name. Since the inhabitants of Kitakami initially view Ogerpon as unfavorable, the point of the minigame is to mimic hunting down the ogre to avenge The Loyal Three.

This minigame starts off fairly easy at first: run around and pop like four blue balloons and three green ones. Players must play "Ogre-Oustin'" at least one time due to story reasons, and stick it to Carmine who's ego is more inflated than the balloons themselves.

As you progress through the levels, it becomes alarmingly difficult. You go from popping 10 balloons in total to around 60 or 70! There are also Skwovets and Munchlaxes actively trying to steal your berries. Players can try this minigame alone or play online or local multiplayer. Trust me . . . playing the game with others is superior. I cannot get through the harder levels solo, like at all.

This minigame is weird but kind of fun. I feel a blend of anger and joy when I play . . . "Ogre Oustin'" will incite peoples' competitive streaks.

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Another side option players can do is engage with the character named Perrin, who . . . you know . . . is 100% a descendant from Hisui's famous Adaman.

She will not regard you until you have completed 150 Kitakami Pokedex entries in full. Once you begin Perrin's side mission, she asks you to assist her with capturing a photo of the "blood moon beast," who is rumored to be lurking in the woods of Kitakami. Throughout this quest, players camp with Perrin and take various photos of Pokémon at night. Perrin's strange camera device has to filter out all non-"blood moon beast" species in order to autonomously detect the location of the beast.

So, I mean, if you like Pokémon Snap or just enjoy using Scarlet & Violet's camera function, then wahoo! However, I wish all the new camera functions were available at this point in the game, as they are not accessible until part two of the DLC.

You ultimately get to battle and capture the "blood moon beast" (which is a special coloration of Ursaluna), and Perrin takes a horrifically blurry photo of it. This side quest is silly and fun, but ultimately just kind of meh. Perrin herself and Ursaluna are cool, though!

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A third side quest you can engage in is with the characters Billy and O'Nare, who are adorning sparkly outfits and can be found standing on the edges of Kitakami's apple orchard. The two are members of "The Glitterati" and are very flamboyantly wealthy.

Their side quest is kind of tedious and annoying in my opinion. After each conversation with these guys, they travel vehemently to random landmarks either in Kitakami itself or back in Paldea. It is a fetch quest where you find the same duo over and over rather than an object. The hints to their whereabouts are kind of vague, which is made worse because Paldea's map can be redundant. Billy and O'Nare are looking for a famous waterfall? There are so many damn waterfalls in Paldea!

After each find, they give you daffy advice and some items. Occasionally players must battle O'Nare, but all she has is a rather weak Persian and eventually an Arbolivia.

Once the side quest is completed, players will have enough valuable items to bulk sell for a hefty amount of money. Players should sell these items and get the 10-ish grand. If you return back to Kitakami and talk to the caretaker, he will be asking for donations to repair the disassembled statues of The Loyal Three in Loyalty Plaza. Sure, the caretaker only wants to repair them for tourism purposes, and sure, the caretaker is kind of a greedy asshole, but if you donate 100,000 to the cause, you will receive a flashy jinbei to wear!

There is a fandom debate on the identities of Billy and O'Nare, in which some fans suspect that these two may be Nemona's parents. After all, O'Nare specifically resembles Nemona in the face, and players know that Nemona grew up quite lavishly. Her parents are never home and Nemona had been primarily taken care of by housekeepers . . . and Billy and O'Nare are always recklessly on the go . . . hmmm.

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MUSIC: 8/10

Pokémon has never blown my mind with its soundtrack, but damn, these games have some bangers!

The music in "The Teal Mask" is very fitting, giving off a warm, seasonal vibe and incorporates the sounds present in traditional Japanese folk music. Overall, the DLC's soundtrack contains some of my favorite works in all of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and I am very happy that Game Freak decided to change up the wild battle and trainer battle themes to distinguish it from the base game.

Also, wow, I am still very happy that Toby Fox contributed to the soundtracks of "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC!

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The music is funky, upbeat, and irresistibly hard not to dance to. It pairs splendidly well with the visual setting, and I feel as if I am roaming rural Japan.

I am always a fan of battle themes. So, some of my favorite tracks include:

Battle! Vs Carmine

Final Battle! Vs Kieran

Battle! Vs Okidogi, Munkidori, & Fezandipiti

Battle! Vs Ogrepon

Carmine's battle theme is bouncy and light-hearted, reflecting her humorously volatile nature yet her slow-growing friendliness towards the MC. The battle theme against The Loyal Three starts off sounding intimidating but then becomes super funky and whimsical. This gives it a de-escalating feel, as in that these Pokémon are actually not that much of a threat after all.

Ogerpon's theme is awesome! It is super folky and happy-sounding, and it made the final battle feel and sound emotionally significant in a positive way. And damn, I love Kieran's battle music, particularly the final version. His theme begins as light-hearted as Carmine's but becomes more intense the worse Kieran's mental state becomes. The final battle music sounds desperate. It sounds sad. It sounds vengeful. It sounds passionate. All of these strange, edgy, teenage hormones unleashed into an awesome tune.

Evidently I love battle music, but there are several other tracks I adore as well:

Mossui Town

Kitakami Hall

Get Stronger

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STORY: 7/10

I do genuinely believe that Generation IX is pretty top-tier when it comes to writing, next to Gen V and VI. At least when it comes to mainline Pokémon game standards.

I had a great time playing through the story and was invested in each line of dialogue. The story itself is about 8 hours, and it offers a pleasing mix of silliness and emotional investment. The star of the show was the friendship/rivalry between the player and Kieran, which the latter stumbled down a childish version of the joker pipeline.

As many people say, Scarlet & Violet's companion characters are some of the best. Nemona, Arven, and Penny are packed with personality, and especially when it comes to their post-game interactions, their similarities and differences bounce off of each other well. Including the MC, they all are outcasted children (and have parental issues) to varying degrees, united by a love for Pokémon and a desire for friendship.

Then, we have the new sibling duo from Kitakami: Kieran and Carmine, who also harbor [potentially] parental issues, and host of other problems.

Carmine and Kieran are natives of Kitakami, and strangely it seems there are not too many other NPCs of their age around. They live with their grandparents Hideko and Yukito in a pale yellow home, and like other locals, are majorly disconnected from a technological standpoint. Carmine has a phone, but Kieran does not, and the only other devices (a television and a game system) are located in the community center for tourists to stay at. Kieran and Carmine are battle maniacs; apparently, according to the "caretaker" of Kitakami, the two tend to cause some disturbances around the place. I am not quite sure if he is referring to their youthful boisterousness, craving for battle, or simply their short tempers (especially Carmine).

But, I was not bothered by them in the least. I was quite entertained.

—————

The story begins when the MC--Julianna or Florian--alongside some other random Uva/Naranja students are "randomly" selected by Professor Jacq to take a school trip to the little local town of Kitakami. The reasoning for this seemingly obscure location is that the trip is hosted by an affiliate sister school, Blueberry Academy. Blueberry is a new Unovan school that aims to strengthen its bonds with Uva/Naranja.

Kitakami is a small village located near the Kanto and Johto regions. Of course, the MC has no choice but to agree to go on the trip!

The group boards an airplane and takes a long bus ride, eventually making it to Kitakami. The class is led by Ms. Briar, a faculty member of Blueberry: Ms. Briar states that she is a descendant of Heath, the author of the Scarlet/Violet Book. In the uncensored book she possesses, Heath vaguely describes a legendary creature named Terapagos that has some sort of connection to the terastal phenomenon. She is on the hunt for this mysterious creature and wants to ultimately gain access to Area Zero in Paldea (which apparently she has been denied many times). The primary reason why Ms. Briar is hosting this trip is because the Crystal Pool located in Kitakami possesses terastal crystals akin to Area Zero. This could help with her research.

Anyways, the kids leave the bus and one of the students becomes car sick, so Briar sends the MC to Mossui Town, the one and only little village in the area, to get some help. The player then encounters Carmine and Kieran, two locals awaiting the arrival of the Paldean students, and Carmine immediately becomes hostile and xenophobic towards you. She challenges you to your first battle while Kieran quietly watches. They are eventually shooed off by the "caretaker," who properly greets you.

You all are cared for and fed and housed in the community center, and when players wake up the next day, the "school" part of the trip begins. You all gather outside of the community center and Briar, Carmine, and Kieran officially introduce themselves. Carmine and Kieran, while born in Kitakami, actually attend Blueberry Academy (which is in the Unova region), I suppose because they are notable for their battling skills. Blueberry is known to specialize teaching the art of Pokémon battling.

As a part of a school task, the "caretaker" instructs each student to pair up and visit three signboards across Kitakami that detail its history . . . or rather historically-based folktales. Briar encourages intermingling between the Uva/Naranja kids and the Blueberry kids. The MC talks to the Kitakami siblings and Carmine asserts that her little brother has been ogling at you, much to Kieran's embarrassment. She then encourages a battle between you two, which is conducted. Depending on your play style, this fight can be kind of easy or surprisingly a struggle. The outcome of the battle regardless makes Kieran even more fascinated with Julianna/Florian.

As such, the MC ends up pairing with Kieran. Kieran is very timid so he kind of avoids actually walking with you to the signboards. First, players traverse through the apple orchards and make it to Loyalty Plaza, where the first signboard talks about the tale of The Loyal Three sacrificing their lives to protect Kitakami from the monstrous ogre. There are statues of these honored Pokémon in the plaza; and Kieran opens up a bit and claims that he finds the ogre actually pretty cool and powerful. After all, the ogre, who is a grass type, murdered three Pokémon with a type advantage. Kieran mentions that he used to go to the ogre's hiding spot as a kid at night and would be yelled at by the adult villagers.

The MC and Kieran then head towards the Festival Hall where the second signboard is. This board continues to talk about the tale, and references the ogre's four masks: the cornerstone mask, the hearthflame mask, the wellspring mask, and the teal mask. Kieran opens up to the MC even more and talks about his fascination with the ogre, and how it doesn't care about what anyone else thinks, and it can hold its ground and is strong and willful. He then invites you to come check out the "Dreaded Den" on Oni Mountain, where the ogre is said to be. The MC agrees and travels there.

Here, Kieran and the MC battle again, because Kieran hopes a display of strength will draw out the ogre. It does not . . . to their knowledge. The two go inside the den and look around the cramped area. Sunset arrives, and then Kieran invites Florian/Julianna to attend the Festival of Masks with him that begins that night.

Later, you are given a green jinbei and attend the festival alongside Kieran and Carmine. You hang with Kieran for a bit until Carmine has a little blowup episode, and while you are off on your own, you see Ogerpon walking around alone. Thinking it to be a masked child at first, the MC approaches it. Then, Carmine finds you and calls out to you. The ogre runs away, accidentally dropping and chipping its teal mask. When Kieran catches up to you guys, you lie to him and say you saw nothing. Kieran thinks you and Carmine were talking about him behind his back.

The next day, Yukito reveals to Carmine and the MC about the true story of the tale of Ogerpon and The Loyal Three. It turns out, the roles were reversed. Ogerpon has been defending itself from the three Pokémon and went on a rampage after finding all of its masks stolen and its original companion human presumably dead. The "Loyal" Three were greedy, murderous thieves all along.

Kieran overhears this conversation, after having been vehemently shooed away by Carmine. He becomes upset, especially since he is a superfan of the ogre, and his entire life he had believed Ogerpon to be the "good guy" where nobody else in Kitakami believed this to be true.

You go to the last signboard with Kieran, and the latter noticeably seems more tense and withdrawn than before. The MC battles Kieran, and Kieran loses, lamenting privately that he is too weak. The last signboard gets a little wild and says that if you encounter the ogre without a mask, it will steal your soul. Kieran asserts that there is no way that is true, and then begins talking about how his great great great great great grandfather was a mask maker (in which the mask maker is responsible for making Ogerpon's mask). The MC just says that's cool, and via body language, one can tell that Kieran is pissed by this because he subtly tried to incite the player to tell him the truth. Kieran then leaves.

Yukito tells the player that he cannot fix up the mask without a terastal crystal, so the MC and Carmine head up to the Crystal Pool to retrieve one. They are met by Ms. Briar, and Carmine angrily questions why she is there because the Crystal Pool is considered a sacred space. Briar claims that she got permission from the "caretaker" and needs to look at the pool for research purposes.

The duo then tries to give Yukito the crystal, but the grandpa says that Kieran ran off with the teal mask. Carmine wonders how in the hell Kieran figured out the truth, so you two chase after him to Loyalty Plaza. Kieran is violently upset, challenges the MC to a battle, loses, and then edgily punches the statue of The Loyal Three while holding the teal mask. He begrudgingly returns the teal mask to you and runs away. Carmine wonders if he is becoming hormonal or something.

Then, suddenly, the statue of The Loyal Three explodes into a purple fume . . . and The Loyal Three are found standing on top of the wreckage, alive. It is theorized that Kieran may have accidentally revived those fools because he touched the monument holding the teal mask, which according to the signboards, is said to have revival/restorative properties. The three thieves run off and you follow them to the Festival Hall. There, the "caretaker" and other townspeople admit that they were fascinated with their return, and thus fed the Pokémon nutritional mochi (perhaps with herba mystical or something) and had returned their stolen masks to them. Carmine becomes outraged and dubs them The "Lousy" Three. She tells the MC to go rescue Ogerpon from their clutches while she quickly goes to retrieve the fixed teal mask from Yukito.

The player finds Ogerpon surrounded and defenseless without its masks and fights Munkidori. Carmine and Kieran show up eventually, scaring the Pokémon away. Kieran apologizes to the player. He expresses that he wants to return the teal mask to Ogerpon himself. However, the ogre gets flustered around unfamiliar people and does not accept it. The MC then tries and Ogerpon happily receives the mask . . . much to Kieran's annoyance.

The three "friends" then develop a little mask retrieval squad, which they will seek out each of The Loyal Three, defeat them, and return each mask to Ogerpon. The ogre begins to follow the MC around, and eventually Kieran backs out of the task force, mysteriously saying that he has something else to do.

After Carmine and Florian/Julianna defeat the titan-ized Loyal Three, Kieran request them to return to Mossui with Ogerpon. Everyone feels reluctant, since the townspeople believe Ogerpon to be a violent gremlin, but Kieran assures them that it is going to be okay. The quartet returns to Mossui, and much to Carmine and the MC's surprise, the townsfolk welcome Ogerpon with sorrow and joy. They apologize to the ogre, expressing that they had misunderstood history, not even realizing that any of the tales were actually true in the first place. I guess it helps that the inaccurate story of Ogerpon is so many generations old, that the people of Kitakami lacked extreme emotional connections to it. The townsfolk just like to celebrate and wear masks.

Yukito says that Kieran shouted at everyone about the true story of The "Lousy Three," breaking out of his socially anxious character temporarily. Kieran had good intentions to help Ogerpon, but ultimately he avoided any chance to actually bond with her as she roamed around with Florian/Julianna.

Carmine, Kieran, and the MC set off back to the "Dreaded Den" to return the ogre to her home. However, as Ogerpon approaches the den, she turns around and runs up to the player, expressing the desire to tag along with him/her. Ogerpon had been seeking a companion like she did so long ago, and I suppose the MC fit the bill. Kieran, at this point, undergoes a tantrum and tells that player that they should battle to see who gets Ogerpon. Carmine tells him that it is not his choice, and the ogre can make her own choices. Kieran does not give a shit (well, he kind of does, but he is having a mental breakdown), and the two of you battle. Kieran fights for his life but is no match against the MC's determination (and ability to terastalize). He falls to the ground, punches the soil, and dies on the inside.

Then, the MC fights Ogerpon, because he/she has to prove their strength to the ogre. Ultimately you succeed and proceed to catch Ogerpon in a pokeball. Carmine cheers, and Kieran brokenly tries to congratulate you, before he runs away crying.

The next day, another class meeting is held in front of the community center. Everyone is there except Kieran, who "does not feel well." Each pair had finished seeing all the signboards, and then Ms. Briar expressed that a sudden development occurred in Area Zero, and she must leave--which means taking Carmine and Kieran back with her. The kids wave them all goodbye, and Carmine tells everyone that she is super sorry about her initial xenophobia, and that she had so much fun with the MC and wishes to see him/her again in the future.

The Blueberry goers then leave. Before "The Teal Mask" concludes, there is a brief scene of Kieran losing his shit in his bedroom. He is shaking his head, grabbing his hair, talking about a deep desire to grow stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. He creepily smiles, and then a "to be continued" screen appears.

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The story is full of positives for the most part. Though, I find it disappointing and strange that the other Paldean students are full-on nobodies. These kids do not even have proper names or anything remarkably unique about them. It just felt unusually random. I have heard complaints/questions wondering why the other students could have not just been characters we already know and love, like Arven and Nemona? Why could they not have tagged along? In fact, our Paldea friends are entirely absent from "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC (which is especially weird because Arven is so connected with the terastal case).

While this is kind of sad, it is actually very much understandable. "The Teal Mask" is Kieran's story if anything. The plot was high-key focused on the relationship between Kieran and you; a wicked plot progression as Kieran goes from a sweet, shy, timid child who is absolutely fascinated with the MC, to a jealous, egotistical, confused, edgy asshole who wants to destroy you.

This plot highlighted something that most Pokémon games fail to emphasize: you have it all. Kieran can try so hard and give everything he has, but will never be the main character. Florian/Julianna is the MC. Kieran is programmed, story-wise, into having to lose to you. Every time. Kieran's reactions to his failures are quite realistic--he's bitter, jealous, and upset with himself. It is not "oh ha ha you win AGAIN wow you are so cool!" Well, it began that way, up until the MC repeatedly batted him down.

So, I think that having our character's old happy-go-lucky friends would very much get in the way of the development of this dynamic. Kieran and Carmine needed their time to shine. Plus, who knows how it works chronologically? You can activate the DLC almost at any point. So . . . what if the MC met Kieran before he met Penny or became friends with Arven?

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I appreciate the length of "The Teal Mask." It is about eight hours story-wise, but I invested significantly more than that doing everything. I thought the plot would end earlier . . . I did not expect Kieran's mental breakdown.

The game is not too deep nor dramatic, but highly enjoyable. As mentioned, there are great fleshed-out characters like Carmine and Kieran, and then the story of Ogerpon herself is fascinating.

The folklore is based off of Momotarō, or "Peach Boy," a popular Japanese folktale. This allusion becomes more apparent with the mythical prologue story available after beating the entire DLC.

Ogerpon's tale has some dark elements to it. She killed The Loyal Three (and tried to kill Pecharunt) to avenge her deceased companion and get her masks back. I adore the way in which the story was animated too: in the game, Yukito talks about the true historical events and there are little wood-block-like clips that demonstrate these events. On YouTube, Pokémon uploaded an epic video about Pecharunt's story, and I find the animation to be super enticing with a storybook aesthetic.

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Having such intriguing folklore for the legendary Pokémon is such a huge plus. I also liked the toned-down plotline of "The Teal Mask":

No, the end of the world was not happening (yet). It was simply a story of some teenagers having drama and miscommunication . . . . but with flare. All the characters are actually interesting, and it is cool to see how a foreign, "city" boy/girl interacts with two emotionally volatile rural kids, one of which is obsessed with the "bad guy" of a folktale.

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SETTING: 7/10

If you can look beyond the janky graphics, I find that the land of Kitakami to be quite pretty. To my knowledge, it may be based on a place of the same name in the Iwate prefecture of Japan. This is further evidenced by the way the townspeople speak, particularly Kieran. He harbors a bit of a Tōhoku dialect which is considered the "typical" rural Japanese accent.

And poor Kieran. In "The Indigo Disk" following the epilogue, Kieran can be found in the BB clubroom stating that he used to be embarrassed by the way he spoke. You can kind of tell that he attempted to ditch his dialect in part 2 of the DLC, but it would surface during his shy or geeky moments. I am not sure as to why Carmine's Tōhoku dialect is not very prominent.

---------- Some players might have wanted a larger DLC map, but I believe that Kitakami is a perfect size. It is actually kind of big, hosting only one town of Mossui and several other staple areas like Oni Mountain, Loyalty Plaza, and the Festival Hall. There are several other locations that players can travel to and catch or battle Pokémon and trainers there. This includes the Mossfell Confluence, Paradise Barren, and Wistful Fields, among others. Some of these places do have signboards that are a part of the main plot, and other areas--like the Timeless Woods--are where Perrin and the "blood moon beast" side quest occurs.

There are very few shops here: Peachy's, located in Mossui Town, sells pretty much anything you need as well as brand new glove and sock options. The stands at the Festival Hall allow players to purchase a variety of masks (e.g., Pikachu, Eevee, Ogerpon, and each of The Loyal Three) as well as food options, like candied apples.

I say the size of the map is good because, for one, I think that an overly massive Pokémon DLC would be very time-consuming and overwhelming. Paldea is big enough as is. Secondly, as can be seen with the performance issues, I am not sure if the Nintendo Switch could handle that much more. The Crystal Pool, as small as it is, lags horrifically. Thirdly, which is probably one of the biggest critiques I have with then main game as well, is that too many areas are otherwise kind of . . . lifeless.

In the Paldea map, there is a surplus of areas of just nothing. The open world is novel at first, but there are a host of spots that lack NPC density and any remarkable geological or architectural standout points. Paldea is too open for its own good. Game Freak has yet to master this.

Lucky for Kitakami, it is just small enough so that the pockets of barrenness are not too noticeable. Sure, there is an unnecessary amount of mini cave entrances and completely pointless islets, but most of the significant locations are memorable enough. The lack of NPCs is not too bad either because Kitakami is supposed to be an incredibly small village. It helps that there are ogre clan members scattered throughout the map so you can find and challenge these lunatics.

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The Festival Hall would be my favorite location. Sure, it was kind of sparse with the vendors, but this is rural Kanto/Johto. The hall has its charm: the music, the colors, the twinkling night sky, and the masks adorned by all the villagers . . . it really appealed to me.

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My only other complaint is that players still cannot enter people's houses. I know it is culturally rude, but you were able to do so in older Pokémon games!

This was a major disappointment for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet as a whole; and another indicator that the open-world system was to big for Game Freak to handle. In the base game, you could enter the MC's own house as well as Nemona's (and kind of Arven's), but in the DLC you cannot go into Kieran and Carmine's home, even though Kieran invites you there!

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COMBAT: 8/10

As mentioned, the difficulty of the game was a wonderful surprise in my humble opinion. The battle system is not any different from the main game of course. Players still conduct single battles, but alas in Kitakami, nobody is going to terastalize. That gimmick is absent in battling despite the presence of terastal crystals--in that case you as the player can still terastalize your Pokémon.

Though . . . how? Terastalization is majorly a Paldean thing, and despite the presence terastal crystals, only Ogerpon terastalizes. Why does some "land in the east" have the same phenomenon happening in theory?

The details are vague and unexplained. You would think these story elements could be solved in "The Indigo Disk." Here is a link that suggests some theories:

You know, with Pokémon, each generation is going to have a gimmick that is abandoned. At least there is some degree of lore behind terastalization in Scarlet & Violet.

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The hardest battles of the DLC are the seven ogre clan members. The ogre clan leader, who is standing in front of the Festival Hall, will give you riddles and clues on their whereabouts. These trainers fight at level 75, and I found them to be quite challenging and satisfying to win.

Carmine's battles are easy, especially the first fight in which she sends out Poochyena. Seriously! Her Sinistcha (which is a new Pokémon introduced in "The Teal Mask") however can be a tough one with that "matcha gotcha" move. Though, I would say Carmine's Sinistcha works better as a support Pokémon during double battles.

Kieran on the other hand . . . players may struggle with him, especially if you beginning the DLC with a fresh and new team or are at the same level as these trainers. The more you battle Kieran, the tougher he gets, especially in the final fight where Kieran goes psycho mode. Although, poor buddy cannot terastalize like you can.

I appreciate how the Kitakami siblings are not stagnant with their lineup, and despite the hefty amount of battles you have to do with them, the party and dynamics change every time. Kieran's Yanma, Nuzleaf, and Sentret all evolve, and he catches a Gliscor and Probopass eventually. His ace is his Dipplin (another new Pokémon), which looks cool and cute but fights mediocre. Kieran also attempts to use items in battle, like focus sashes and berries, in desperate attempts to beat the MC. So yes, Kieran is pulling out the strats, and has a degree of intelligent/predictive AI. Some might find this challenging in a positive way, or rather annoying.

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The battles with the DLC's new legendary Pokémon were pretty great. Not necessarily hard, but still fun.

Battling against The Loyal Three for the first time demonstrates the consequences of the naive townsfolk nourishing them back to health with all of their best mochi. Munkidori, Okidogi, and Fezandipiti all become titan Pokémon that you and Carmine must face against (minus Kieran who abandoned the squad). Holy hell, these guys are huge! When I saw the titanic Munkidori for the first time, I wanted to cringe and laugh and cry. His big head made him appear rather funny-looking.

The purpose of the double battles against the titan Pokémon are perhaps there to give you a taste on what is to come in part two of the DLC (which takes place in Unova, where everyone engages in double battles only).

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The final battle against Ogerpon herself was a wonderful experience. However, she is shiny-locked (bummer) and has a 100% catch rate, so it eliminates some tediousness.

Ogerpon will go through four stages of battle, and is the only Pokémon to terastalize in "The Teal Mask." Players fight all four masks, which changes Ogerpon's type from pure grass to grass and rock, fire, or water type. Ogerpon terastalizes all four times which showcases the immense power of Ogerpon, and how each mask themselves are the ones that terastalize (the ogre is just chilling behind it). This fight feels incredibly rewarding. The fight is also tough to get through with the changing types, combined with the overpowered cudgel move.

I am certain the most players sent out that friend ball to catch the ogre, right?

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I do not have many complaints when it comes to the combat, but I would have not minded an even greater challenge. I am sure that players with all level 100 Pokémon would agree!

The lag also made some of the battles (and the buildup to them) a bit more cringe. The Milotic fight . . . I don't even understand it.

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ENJOYMENT: 8/10

In all, I had a wonderful time playing through "The Teal Mask." Scarlet & Violet has its ups and downs, but there is no denying that Kieran and Carmine are wonderfully complex and amusing characters, and that the writing and music are exemplary.

Part one of the DLC offers a nice challenge to even more competitive players, and I can appreciate the bonus introductions of new minigames, side quests, and even new Pokémon in the Kitakami dex. Is it worth over $30 (which includes "The Indigo Disk")? I am unsure about that . . . but you know, Pokémon fans do torture themselves.

The lack of an attempt to fix the FPS and other graphical issues is not excusable, however. I am not always too concerned about these topics, and I do not think that these issues fully detracted from the actual enjoyment of the game, but it is certainly embarrassing for Game Freak.

But yeah. So I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . I had fun!

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 20 hours (an estimate. I am slow af)

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

PLATFORM USED: Nintendo Switch

DATE OF COMPLETION: April 2024

[humblegrub]

I just watched this video about the Mexican production of cochineal bugs (Dactylopius coccus), a scale insect from which the natural dye carmine is derived. The dye has been cultivated, traded, and used in North America since before European contact. This video focuses on the three producers who are left in Mexico.

They also mention a space dedicated to research and dissemination of scientific, cultural, and artistic knowledge of cochineal and other traditional natural dyes from the state of Oaxaca. It is called NOCHEZTLICALLI - Museo Ecológico de Grana cochinilla y Nopal. If I spoke any Spanish I would definitely travel to see it. Maybe I should start a bug-related travel destination list...?

You can also donate if you can't actually get out there - supporting Indigenous cultural practices in this every-changing world is critical.